Vicky

About me:

I am a Volunteer Patient Advocate for Hip Resurfacing surgery.

Click to Visit hipresurfacingsite.com

My main hobby for the past four years has come out of what appeared to be a negative situation(needing hip surgery) to a very positive one in so many different ways. It has become a huge part of my life and passion. Before I go into my story, please take a look at these two links below that clearly show the differences between a THR and a hip resurfacing.

Basically the difference between a Total Hip Replacement and hip resurfacing can be seen in this x-ray of someone that has one of each. Hip resurfacing is a bone conserving approach to hip problems. it preserves the entire head of your femur instead of amputating it. See this x-ray of a patient that has one of each.

Click to see XRAY of Patient with THR and Resurface

Now take a look at this short video clip that shows the huge difference in amount of bone removed in each procedure.

Click to see video clip of bone loss in both procedures

Here is some background on my hip journey. When I needed my surgery I started to do a ton of research and found out about hip resurfacing quite by accident. I was on craigslist and ran across an ad from someone that was selling items you will need if having hip surgery. I wanted to find the latest technology for Total Hip Replacement (THR) and emailed him (Jay G.) asking him if he had the surgery himself and if so, what procedure he received, if it was one of the latest MIS THR procedures. At the time, that seemed to be all I could find on the internet and the local doctors I consulted with just told me I needed a THR and to wait until I could not stand the pain any longer. (That is no way to waste your life). Jay G. emailed me back with a link to the yahoo surface hippy message board and the JRI website and told me he had something much better called hip resurfacing where they preserve your bone. That is the day my life changed and my hip resurfacing journey began.

At the time hip resurfacing was not yet FDA approved so it was difficult for me to find a local surgeon that even knew about hip resurfacing. If they did, they either badmouthed it or one local doctor at Stanford actually told me I was not a candidate due to having dysplasia. I was so distressed and actually had a surgery date booked with him for a THR. Thank goodness for the help I received from Alan R. from the surface hippy message board, he told me not to take that as the final answer and to get other opinions. I flew down to L.A. out of my own pocket and paid for a consult with Dr. Harlan Amstutz at the Joint Replacement Institute (JRI). I was very pleased to find out that I was indeed an ideal candidate for the procedure. I also emailed my x-rays to Dr. Vijay Bose in India and Dr. Koen DeSmet in Belgium. I was amazed when I received a response from Dr. Bose within half an hour and Dr. DeSmet within three hours, both told me I was an excellent candidate for the procedure.

Then my insurance problems began. My pain was increasing and I finally had to make a decision, do I pay out of pocket and just get this done or wait for my multiple appeals and months of excruciating pain to hear back from my insurance company. I put together a detailed cost spreadsheet and realized that I could go to India to one of the top surgeons in the world for around $10k - $12k, ALL inclusive! On September 22, 2005, I had enough with my HMO, broke down and cried and emailed Dr. Bose and asked for a surgery date near the end of November first of December. He emailed me back and I was set for December 1, 2005. I felt like a ton of bricks just lifted off my shoulders. Of course my family and friends thought I was insane to go to a third world country for major surgery, but my mind was made up, my research was done and I was going. Sherry started the India surface hippy site in which I am now the moderator of

Click to Visit India Surface Hippy site

With being able to read the stories of and communicate with other hippies that went before me, I felt I had made the right decision. Now looking back, I would not change a thing. My doctor, Dr. Vijay Bose is one of the top resurfacing surgeons in the world and he gave me my life back.

My Mom has two THR's and she can not even cross her legs, I have no limits to what I can do today. Every morning that I wake up, I am so grateful that I found out about this before getting a THR. Three doctors here in the U.S. all wanted to give me a THR. From my experience and struggles to get hip resurfacing instead of a THR, this has now become a major passion of mine and I am now a huge patient advocate for this procedure.

I have started a non-profit organization

Click to Visit dastinternational.org

which helps patients that do not have insurance or the financial means for this surgery (hip resurfacing)to get it at a greatly reduced cost with three of the top resurfacing surgeons in the world.
I stay very active in the yahoo surface hippy message board

Click to Visit Yahoo Surface Hippy Message Board

as well as have a new website surfacehippyinfo.com

Click to Visit Surfacehippyinfo.com

I help other patients still looking into the surgery on a daily basis via email or phone to find the right doctor for them and answer questions. I have "hippy gatherings" which are information get togethers twice a year, the most recent one was on January 19 and you can see photos of it here in my albums section. There were 40 - 50 people in attendance.

Although it was finally approved by the FDA in May 2006, unfortunately there are still many doctors out there that still do not even tell their patients about this new procedure or they try to talk the patient out of it due to lack of knowledge on the doctors part. I am a firm believer in preserving your bone if you are elgible. You can read more about it on the websites I mention above.

It gave me my life back. I went from only being able to walk with a cane to living a full active lifestyle, working out, yoga, ballroom dancing. There isn't anything that I can't do today and I am so thankful for it. It is only right to pay it forward for all those that helped me when I was still searching for my answers.

I love helping people, always have, and now I have found something that I am so passionate about, am very knowledgeable in and have first hand experience with. If anyone is in need of hip surgery, feel free to contact me for more information. By the way, I am in the insurance field, so all of this is just what I do because I enjoy helping people.

Link to my youtube page for videos

Visit Vicky’s youtube page

Vicky

Hip Resurfacing - Alternative to Total Hip Replacement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8IZMln389s

Short Video clip on the differences between a Hip Resurfacing and a Total Hip Replacement